Calling Sen. Marco Rubio’s (R-Fl.) pro-Democracy bill a “nakedly hegemonic act,” Beijing’s reacted to U.S. support for Hong Kong protesters. Chinese 66-year-old President Xi Jinping won’t take lightly 73-year-old President Donald Trump signing Rubio’s Hong Kong Human Rights and Democracy Act, signed into law by Trump Nov. 27, with a little fanfare as possible. Trump worries that if Xi retaliates, linking Trump’s signature to the China-U.S. trade war, it could derail Wall Street’s optimism, leading the Dow Jones Industrial Average to another record close at 28,164. If Xi cancels trade war talks, it could trigger a market slide, upending the current upward trend with U.S. equities. Trump’s decision to sign Rubio’s Hong Kong bill comes at a sensitive time with U.S.-China trade negotiations. Xi views the U.S. Congress as meddling in China’s internal affairs.
Beijing has watched from the sidelines as Hong Kong, once a British Crown Colony until July 1, 1997, reverted back to China after enjoying 100 years of British rule. Hong Kong residents got used to freedoms and opportunities not afforded to citizens of Mainland China. It was Mao Zedong’s 1949 Communist Revolution that evicted much of pro-Western capitalism in China, leaving Hong Kong’s British rule to continue the last bastion of pro-Western freedom. Hong Kong residents are typically Cantonese, a world apart from Mandarins from Mainland China. Speaking a different language and having strong ties to Great Britain, Hong Kong residents reject China’s Maoist revolution. Despite Mao’s closed-door policy, former Secretary of State Henry Kissinger opened the door July 9, 1971, meeting with Chinese Premier Zhou Enlai against objections from an aging Chairman Mao Zedong.
Kissinger opened the door for President Richard Nixon to visit China Feb. 21, 1972, eventually opening up trade relations, creating the biggest business opportunity in U.S. history. Of all of Nixon’s foreign policy accomplishments, none is greater than opening up China to U.S. business. Whatever the trade imbalance with China, the U.S. economy—especially consumers—benefit handsomely from the thaw in U.S.-China trade relations. Realizing that China must compete in the world economy, Zhou helped lift China from a feudal society into a modern middle class, now the second ranked world economic power. Trump ran his campaign—and presidency—on fixing the trade imbalance with China, costing U.S. manufacturing jobs. With the trade war going on for over a year, it’s hurt the Gross Domestic Product [GDP] of both countries, something the Rubio’s Hong Kong bill threatens.
China sees Hong Kong as its own unique problem, managing a growing pro-Democracy movement, throwing a monkey wrench into Hong Kong’s once prosperous economy. Signing Rubio’s Hong Kong Human Rights and Democracy Act antagonizes Beijing, now grappling with at times violent pro-Democracy protests disrupting the former British Crown colony. Street protests erupted in June when Hong Kong’s Beijing-backed administrator Carrie Lam considered an extradition bill allowing Hong Kong to extradite lawbreakers to Beijing for prosecution. Violent protests prompted Lam to withdraw the bill Sept. 4, only to watch the protests continue. Things hit a fever’s pitch when NBA’s Houston Rockets GM Daryl Morey tweeted, “Fight for Freedom, Stand with Hong Kong” Oct. 7. Given the sensitive trade talks, Trump stayed out of the Hong Kong controversy.
Signing Rubio’s bill yesterday, Trump stirred a hornet’s nest, hoping to get a peaceful resolution to Hong Kong’s pro-Democracy crisis. “I signed these bills out of respect for President Xi, China and the people of Hong Kong,” Trump said in a statement. “They are being enacted in the hope that Leaders and Representatives of China and Hong Kong will be able to amicably settle their differences leading to long term peace and prosperity for all.” Trump knows that Xi considers Rubio’s bill interference in China’s internal affairs. Xi considers dealing with Hong Kong China’s problems, doesn’t appreciate outside meddling. Chinese Foreign Ministry said Trump “strengthens the resolve of the Chinese people, including the Hong Kong people, and raise the sinister intentions and hegemonic nature of the U.S.,” sounding more like North Korea than Communist China.
Stepping into China’s internal affairs, the U.S. Congress throws a monkey wrench into highly sensitive China-U.S. trade talks, trying to end the current trade war that’s harmed both economies. “The U.S. side ignore facts, turned black to white, and blatantly gave encouragement for violent criminals who smashed and burned, harmed innocent city residents, trampled on the rule of law and endangered social order,” said the Foreign Ministry. Trump was pressured by Rubio and other members of Congress to show support for Hong Kong’s pro-Democracy protesters. When Hong Kong was turned back to Mainland China, Beijing accepted “One nation, two systems” for Hong Kong. Beijing didn’t agree to surrender sovereignty of Hong Kong, something protesters seek. Beijing isn’t about to back down in setting down pro-Democracy protests in Hong Kong, seeing it a matter of sovereignty, not human rights.
